The Most Watched TV Show Among Those 18-49

Thanks to DVR playback ratings, shows on death watch are bouncing back -- and others are being cemented as hits.

ABC Television

DVR playback ratings are bumping up the numbers for shows that have faced faltering audiences, such as NBC's The Event and Fox's Fringe, the New York Times reports.

The late ratings are also cementing shows as hits, such as ABC's Modern Family, which becomes the highest rated show among views 18 to 49, with a 6.1, when DVR ratings are factored in. ABC's Grey's Anatomy gained 1.4 ratings points, pushing it past the 6-rating level.

Thanks to late DVR ratings, NBC's The Office and 30 Rock were both up 36 percent and CBS' The Mentalist grew 36 percent.

Hawaii 5-0, the most DVR'd show of all time, was up 31 percent, adding 3.13 additional viewers. (CBS has suggested its audience likely tunes in for Monday Night Football live, and goes back to watch Hawaii 5-0 on DVR.) The network, the most-watched, has eight of the top 15 shows of adding viewers with DVR playback, according to the Times.

Highly-promoted The Event scored a 2.4 rating in its third week on air, which is below the network's average. But after DVR numbers were factored in, it grew to a 3.3 rating -- making it NBC's best new show of the season, only trailing The Office and Sunday Night Football at the net.

Parenthood and Fringe's numbers grew by more than 40 percent after DVD ratings were added, likely keeping them from cancelation.